Overview
- The State Attorney’s Office provided unredacted text messages to News4JAX and the Florida Tribune that show Jacksonville City Council President Kevin Carrico discussing a JEA-owned Nassau County parcel and a proposed appointment to the JEA board.
- The texts include a line tying the board appointment to advancing the land matter and a message saying JEA staff were “checking with the CEO” about whether a donation of the parcel was still possible.
- JEA’s Nassau County parcel was appraised at more than $1 million and a draft plan that was never signed contemplated leasing the land to the Boys & Girls Clubs for $1 per year.
- Prosecutors have subpoenaed large numbers of Carrico’s messages and JEA records as part of ongoing inquiries, and those investigative actions remain active.
- Attorneys for Carrico and for Boys & Girls Clubs leader Paul Martinez deny any quid pro quo and say the talks aimed to secure property for a teen center, and incoming Council President Nick Howland has proposed restructuring JEA oversight in response to the disclosures.